Safety stop sign



Dec. 23, 1930. v GRlGGs ET AL 1,785,952

SAFETY STOP SIGN Filed Oct. 19 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Dec.'23, 1930. H.D. amass ET'AL SAFETY STOP SIGN Filed Oct. 19, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented -Dec. 23, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HARVEY D. GRIGGS ANDJOHN IBuSUBIRA, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF T0 CHARLESA. SMITH, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS SAFETY STOP SIGN f Application filedOctober 19, 1929. Serial No. 400,858.-

Our invention relates to crossing or street intersection signalsespecially designed for safety control at the junctions of secondarystreets and arterial or boulevard highways.

The particular object of our invention is to provide an improvement overthe usual,

type of safety stopsigns in that the trip member is fully capable ofyielding reciprocation within a housing buried in the roadway. By thisconstruction serious accidents are eliminated since there are no domesor rigid structures extending or projecting above the surface of theroadway.

In our construction, the trip member is allowed to yield downwardlyshould it be accidentally struck or run over by a passing vehicle.Furthermore, the trip member is provided with traflic indicia adapted tobe plainly visible in the daytime and to be illuminated by the reflectedlight of the passing vehicle in the night time.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists in certaindetails of construction hereinafter set forth, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a plan view of a street intersectionshowing the location of the safety stop sign with respect to thestreets;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-section of the stop sign on the line 22 ofFigure 1; and

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section on the line 38 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by reference characters, 1 represents anoblong housing which is constructed of metal and sunk into a .well inthe roadway provided for the purpose. The top of the housing has anoutwardly disposed horizontal flange 2 which is flush with the surfaceof the roadway. Situated within the housing and in the upper portionthereof are two parallel guide rollers 3 and 4 spaced apart as shown andjournaled to the inner sides of the housing so as to be rotatablymounted therein. The particular type of journaling forms no part of ourinvention but for purposes of illustration we have shown projectingshaft portions 12, forming a part of the'rollers 3 and 4 and rotatablymounted in the housing 1. In

practice, these rollers are preferably made of heavy hollow metal pipeand when properly positioned, they are flush with the roadway.

Situated between said guide rollers and ex tending'about four inchesabove them is a hollow metal trip memb'er 5, U-shaped in cross'sectionand extending the full length of the housing but adapted to be moved upand down in said housing in a manner later ti) be described. On the topsurface of the trip member andon the side facing approach the lettersfrom the reflecting surface 7 provided on the interior of the tripmember. In the day time, the colored glass letters show up prominently.The trafiic indicia may assume any form' desirable and the glass lettershavebeen chosen merely as an example.

Secured to the under surface of the trip member by tongues 8 is a heavyrubber mat or diaphragm 9 horizontally disposed and adapted to makewiping contact with the inner side walls of the housing, for a purposehereinafter to be explained. This rubber mat also acts as a resilientbuffer member. The trip member 5 and the rubber mat are yieldablysupported by heavy coil springs 10' and 11, resting on the floor of thehousing and so tensioned that the trip member will normally extend aboutfour inches above the surface of the'roadway.

Usually, the housing is placed in the street at the mid line thereof,where said street begins to merge into an arterial highway. The tripmember 5 is normally about eighteen inches long and consequently verylittle of the street is occupied by the sign. Vehicles approaching thearterial highway will come to a stop and may again proceed with cautioninto the arterial highway without striking the trip member 5. However,should a passingvehicle'inadvertently pass over the trip member 5, thesame will be depressed by the load of the passing vehicle and willtelescope into the housing,.thereby compressing the springs 10 and 11.The wheels of the vehicle will thereupon bear upon the rollers 3 and land the extreme upper portion of the trip member 5 and pass freely on tothe roadway without damage to the sign or the vehicle. T he trip memberhaving been depressed, will seek to return to its original position andin so doing, the rubber mat will travel upwardly with the trip memberand strike the lower surface of the rollers, thereby acting as aresilient buffer member and serving also as a means for expelling dirtand water which have collected in the housing. The dirt and water willbe expelled over the edge of the housing and conducted away in anysuitable manner. Therefore, it will be seen that the rubber mat 9 servesa two-fold purpose. The guide rollers not only provide a tread for thewheels of a passing vehicle but they also guide the trip member in itstelescopic movement.

lVhile we have shown ant described a simple embodiment of the inventionin all of itsdetails, we may without departing from the spirit of theinvention vary the structural features within the scope of the claims.

lVe claim:

1. A trafiic sign, comprising a vertically disposed housing adapted tobe sunk flush with a roadway, a pair of parallel spaced apart guiderollers secured to the upper marginal edge portion of said housing androtatably mounted therein and lying in the horizontal plane of saidroadway, a vertical. yieldable trip member mounted between said guiderollers to project normally above the surface of said roadway and totelescope with said housing, said trip member being yieldably mounted soas to sink to the level of said roadway when depressed by the load of apassing vehicle and having traflicdirecting' indicia thereon.

2. A traffic sign, comprising a vertically disposed housing adapted tobe sunk flush with a roadway, a pair of parallel spaced apart guiderollers secured to the upper marginal edge portion of said housing androtatably mounted therein and lying in the horizontal plane of saidroadway, a vertical yieldable trip member mounted between said guiderollers to project normally above the surface of said roadway and totelescope with said housing, and having secured thereto a horizontallydisposed resilient buffer member adapted to contact with the innervertical walls of said housing, said trip member being yieldably mountedso as to sink to the level of said roadway when depressed by the load ofa passing vehicle and having trailicdirecting indicia thereon.

8. A traflic sign, comprising a vertically disposed housing adapted tobe sunk flush with a roadway, a vertical yieldable trip member mountedto project normally above the surface of said roadway and to telescopewith said housing, said trip member being hollow and having a lightreflecting surface on its interior wall portion and traffic-directingindicia on its exterior wall. portion adapted'to be illuminated byreflected light emana ing from said reflecting surface, said trip memberbeing yield ably mounted so to sink to the level of said roadway whendepressed by the load of a passing vehicle.

In. testimony whereof we allix our signatures.

HARVEY GRIGGS.

JOHN B. SUBIRA.

